


We'll Sit Beneath the Mango Tree

by serenelystrange



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor, Leverage Secret Santa Gift Exchange 2019, Mentions of Emotional Abuse, Snark, Team as Family, but this is mostly happy I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28007283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenelystrange/pseuds/serenelystrange
Summary: Parker and Hardison meet with a prospective new team member, and it doesn't go exactly as planned.Have some team feels and humor, with a dash of angst! All ends well, though.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker
Comments: 17
Kudos: 38
Collections: Leverage Secret Santa Exchange (Mod Gifts)





	We'll Sit Beneath the Mango Tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Keenir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/gifts).



“The first rule,” Parker says faux-seriously, “is you can only push one team member off a roof at a time. Just in case.”

“In case of what?” Brittany asks, looking up at Parker with wide and vaguely horrified brown eyes.

“In case they get,” Parker says, “You know… all…” she trails off and makes a diving motion with her hands, ending with a violent looking _splat_ effect of her hands.

“Jesus,” Hardison says, catching the end of the conversation as he comes over to the booth where Parker and Brittany are sitting.

“Don’t scare the kid,” he chides, sliding in next to Parker and nudging her gently with his shoulder.

“I’m not a kid,” the kid says, glaring at Hardison before remembering she was supposed to be impressing them.

“You’re five feet tall,” Parker says.

“I’m short,” Brittany says, “but I’m nearly 18.”

“So you’re..17,” Hardison says.

Brittany just rolls her eyes.

“Ok, whatever, _technically_ I’m a kid for another few months. That’s just like, the law or whatever. Isn’t your whole thing breaking the law?”

“She has a point,” Parker says, grinning.

“We only break the law for important reasons,” Hardison tries, and Parker just snorts.

“Mostly important reasons,” Hardison amends. “Occasionally for revenge.”

“Justice,” Parker corrects mildly.

“Right,” Hardison says. “For justice.”

“And then sometimes for fun,” Parker says, shrugging. “And Hardison torrents _everything._ ”

“I refuse to give Comcast my hard-earned stolen money!” Hardison says in a whisper-shout.

“And sometimes,” Parker says, ignoring Hardison’s often repeated Comcast rant, “We break a law because it’s a really really stupid freaking law.”

“I did an illegal marionette puppet show from a New York City windowsill,” Hardison adds, grinning widely.

Brittany just looks at them with raised eyebrows.

“The Princess Bride,” he adds. “Took me a week to get the strings right for Westley.”

“Who?” Brittany asks.

Hardison groans.

“Damn millennials have no culture! No, wait, I’m a millennial. What’s the new one?” He looks back up at Brittany. “What are you?”

Brittany, understandably, looks confused at the subject change, but tries her best to keep up.

“Um, Gen-Z, I think?”

Hardison nods, narrowing his eyes and feeling the weight of his thirties crushing upon his soul for a long and painful moment.

“Wednesdays are movie nights. You’re watching The Princess Bride with us.”

“Eliot makes really good popcorn,” Parker adds, bouncing excitedly in her seat for a moment.

Brittany nods and shrugs. She can handle some old people movies if it means she gets to be part of the Leverage crew.

“Is Eliot the one with the flippy hair?” she asks, looking around the diner for the missing Leverage team member.

Parker bursts into laughter, her face turning red even as she nods.

“He sure is,” Hardison says, pausing as the waitress comes by to take their orders.

Parker and Hardison order quickly, getting burgers and fries as usual. Brittany however, averts her eyes as she pretends to scan the menu closely.

“Can I just get some fries?” she asks the waitress, “and a water?”

“Sure thing,” the waitress says, scribbling the order down and giving them a small smile as she walks back towards the kitchen.

Parker and Hardison exchange a knowing glance while Brittany looks down at her hands, face flushing slightly in embarrassment.

“Hey,” Parker says, dropping her voice so low that only Hardison and Brittany will be able to hear her. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, we’ve all been too broke to eat before. Let us buy you lunch.”

Brittany looks up at her, still unsure.

“The burgers are really good,” Hardison adds, just as softly. “Or they have some cool vegetarian options if you don’t eat meat.”

After a few moments of internal debate, Brittany nods and offers them a weak smile.

“A burger sounds good, yeah,” she says. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Parker says, reaching out and patting Brittany awkwardly on the top of her head.

Hardison just sighs, and only snickers a little at the outraged expression on Brittany’s face.

After the burgers have been demolished and they’re all full and satisfied, Hardison looks around to make sure they won’t be overheard before leaning slightly towards Brittany to pick up the earlier conversation.

“You know,” he says, “If you just need help, we can help you. You don’t need to be part of the crew for that.”

“Hardison has a whole network of former foster kids that we help, and who help us sometimes,” Parker adds.

“I’m not a foster kid,” Brittany says, but her expression still looks uneasy. “I just know some of them from school. Sammy said I should talk to you guys, that you might have a spot for me in the crew since the old guy and the British one moved away.”

Hardison snorts at Nate being called ‘the old guy,’ but decides that’s a laugh for another time.

“Sammy Martinez?” he asks instead, and watches Brittany nod.

“Good kid,” he says. “We helped his foster parents out a couple of years ago when their landlord was swindling their whole building.”

“He told me,” Brittany says. “His foster parents are really cool. They let me crash there sometimes when I…”

She trails off again, looking away.

Hardison feels Parker freeze next to him, going rigid for just a moment before she forces herself back into a more relaxed posture. He takes a second to squeeze a hand on her knee gently for reassurance.

“They don’t hit me,” Brittany says suddenly, just a little too loudly.

Thankfully, nobody is paying them any attention.

“My parents, I mean,” she adds. “They don’t hit me or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“They don’t have to,” Parker says, looking at Brittany seriously. “Parents can be bad even if they never lay a finger on you.”

Brittany unexpectedly crumples under Parker’s sincerity, and her eyes well with tears.

“They just yell,” she says, folding in on herself as she leans back against the booth, clutching her arms around her stomach in a mock-embrace. “All the time. At each other mostly, but at me too. A lot of the time at me, actually. And nothing I do seems to make them happy. They just call me a worthless leech who won’t ‘amount to anything’.”

She laughs wryly, throat wet and choked with emotion. She unwraps her arms from her stomach and places her palms flat on the table, taking a deep breath.

“I have a 4.0 GPA, you know,” she says, giving them a lopsided smile. “I thought that would make them proud, show them how hard I’ve been working for the last four years.”

Parker cracks first, surprising Hardison, and reaches across the table to grasp Brittany’s forearm in comfort.

“People like that,” she says, voice quiet but leaving no room for argument, “are only happy when they’re making someone else miserable. It’s not your fault.”

“It’s never been your fault,” Hardison adds.

“No matter what they’ve said,” Parker says, squeezing Brittany’s arm once before letting go and pulling her own hand back.

“Well,” Brittany laughs slightly, blinking away the tears that are threatening to fall. “This got kinda heavy for 4pm on a Thursday.”

Hardison gives her a small smirk, letting the atmosphere lose some of i’s intensity from the last few minutes.

“Can you give us a few minutes?” he asks, standing up and pulling Parker up with him to exit the booth.

“Sure?” Brittany says in confusion.

“Quick team meeting,” Parker says. “You stay here, we’ll be right back.”

Brittany still looks confused, but nods readily enough, glad for a few minutes to compose herself.

Outside the diner, Parker and Hardison discuss their options.

“I mean, we don’t _need_ anyone new right now,” Hardison says. “But I think…”

“She needs us,” Parker cuts in, beating Hardison to his own point.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Should we call Eliot first?”

“Please,” Parker laughs. “You know how soft he is for sad kids.”

“He’s going to try to adopt her,” Hardison agrees, snickering.

They peer into the diner from an angle they know Brittany can’t see them and watch her fiddling with her phone, playing a game of some kind as she waits.

“You know,” Hardison says, thoughtfully. “Leverage, Inc. could probably use a College Scholarship fund or two in its name.”

“Definitely,” Parker agrees. “And maybe one of those… what do you call them? Office gophers?”

Hardison sighs.

“Interns, Parker. We call them interns.”

“I just like seeing your forehead get all crinkly,” Parker says, laughing.

“I hate you,” he says, voice far too fond to be taken seriously.

“I know,” Parker says, and ducks back into the diner before Hardison can process the Star Wars reference and fall even more in love.

Brittany looks up at them with hopeful eyes as they slide back into the booth across from her.

“So?” she asks, twisting her straw wrapper into nothing with her nervous hands.

Hardison leans back as Parker leans forward, placing her elbows on the table and cupping her chin on her hands.

“So,” she asks, grinning at Brittany. “How would you feel about being Leverage, Inc.’s very first intern?”

“And first official college scholarship recipient,” Hardison adds.

Brittany’s eyes light up and her face breaks out into a wide smile, mouth quivering slightly with emotion.

“Yes,” she says quickly. “I mean, yes, please! I would feel so good about all of that, yes.”

“Then let me get the check,” Hardison says, “and then we can get started.”

As they’re walking back to the office a little later, Parker calls Eliot as Hardison and Brittany walk a few steps behind.

“You know how you told me I couldn’t have an office raccoon?” she says into the phone, pausing briefly as Eliot presumably answers.

“Well, we have a daughter now. Congratulations!”

Hardison and Brittany exchange amused glances at the sudden twangy cursing that comes from Parker’s phone.

“Should’ve let me have the raccoon,” Parker says, shrugging before ending the call and slipping her phone back into her pocket.

“Don’t worry,” Hardison whispers to Brittany. “This is gonna be fun, you’ll see.”

Brittany just smiles up at him, something akin to hope blooming in her chest for what feels like the first time in years.

“I can’t wait.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from "Better Together" by Jack Johnson, because titles are HARD.


End file.
